Finally!!!

Well, I arrived at the Olive Garden in Jonesboro shortly after 4 p.m. last evening (yes they opened the doors at 4) and waited for an hour and 45 minutes to get a table and had an absolutely wonderful meal. I'm not a huge fan of chain restaurants, but I always enjoy the Olive Garden and am delighted that I don't have to drive over an hour to eat at a location. The service was great, even though they were all nervous. The restaurant seems much smaller than other locations in which I have dined. I'm heading back in tomorrow night to celebrate my mother's birthday. Jesse actually asked me this evening if I wanted take-out tonight. That seemed a bit much to me.

If you haven't seen the Jonesboro Sun obituaries today (http://www.jonesborosun.com/obituaries.php) you should do so as you will find a bit of levity amongst the sadness. Both a Lucille Ball and a Betty Davis died.

School is back in full swing. The Red Wolf Recreational and Wellness Facility opened this afternoon and I honestly couldn't find the results of nearly $18 million worth of construction. Yes, it's nice, but not that nice and there are no swimming pools (a big argument for building the facility, after stating that the current pool facility was falling apart). Nevertheless, I'm actually thinking of taking spin class starting next week.

I'm off to do more school work. Just over 13 weeks until this semester is over and it's coming fast!

They Should be Prepared

At long last, The Olive Garden finally opens at 4:00 p.m. on Monday here in Jonesboro. This marks the first major chain restaurant to locate here and this town will be crazy. For over the past 2 weeks, the staff members at the new Olive Garden have been working to prepare for opening. They are dressing in full uniform and I assume cooking and taking orders. Hopefully they will work out all of the kinks before I walk in the door on Monday.

If you live under a rock, then I will tell you that there was an earthquake in Haiti. That's all I'm going to say because, no matter how grief stricken you may be, I am quite frankly sick of hearing about it.

The Jonesboro Police Department has a new website that allows citizens to view where the crime is taking place within the city. Oddly enough, all of the crime seems to be located in one general area and none of it south of the bypass. I wonder why? http://www.jonesboropolice.com

I'm off to get dinner as Jesse prepared a dish that has to refrigerate overnight for dinner tonight and didn't fully read the recipe. So, I guess we will have that tomorrow night. Tata for now!

Back in the Saddle Again

After nearly a month-long vacation, I returned to the campus of Arkansas State University today to continue my studies in the wonderful world of Radiology. I was very happy to see my fellow classmates this morning but even happier once I realized how "light" my schedule will actually be this semester. For the first time in my collegiate career, I am taking less than 15 hours (now this may be deceiving considering that I am in clinic for 6 hours 2 days a week). Add the fact that the classes that I do have seem to be the easiest since I began the program and I feel that this semester will be smooth sailing.

Yes, for the 3^rd time, I have been placed at Great River Medical Center for clinic. I don't know why I am so lucky, lol!!! Out of all the clinic sites that I have visited, it is definetly the slowest by far ( we had 1 procedure before lunch yesterday). Oh, well. I enjoy the people that work there and have a good time.

Since I'm still getting into the groove of school again, I'll stop here. Just want to wish the Hoxie Mustangs luck this week for Homecoming!

My Last Weekend of Freedom

Well, today is Friday and Monday officially marks the beginning of another semester at Arkansas State University. Considering that this is my last semester and that I will indeed have to find employment after said time this is my last weekend of doing nothing for a long, long time. I mean, think about it; I will be either in school or working somewhere or looking for work for the next 30 years or so. Blah. Blah. Blah. I have really enjoyed this spending time at home alone with my 3 babies. I need to look for ways to make that a permanent arraignment.

Since I cooked every night for 5 nights, because Jesse worked for 5 days, he cooked dinner tonight since he is off. Well, being lovers of Godsey's Grill (if you haven't been, you definitely need to try) he thought he would recreate their "Taco Burger." Unfortunately, it lacked the taste and all-together appeal that their burgers do. I'm not telling him this, but we will not be having Taco Burgers made at home again, at least if he makes them we aren't.

Although it has been bitterly cold, our furnace has turned itself on maybe 3 times all day long. And I keep it at 70 degrees. I have to say one good thing about this house; it's insulated like Fort Knox. During the summer when it was hot outside, our electric bill (including water, sewage, and trash pickup) never got above $110. And I have to keep this place cool in the summer for somebody who isn't me (as I'm emaciated, or so I'm told).

That's all I've got for this week kiddos. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and good luck for a wonderful semester for all you college attenderers!

Rosetta Stone is Expensive

Several of you have asked, yet I have failed to answer. I will be traveling to China May 5, 2010 – May 15, 2010. Jesse will be joining me and we will be part of a group of medical professionals headed by my Radiology Program Director at ASU. I am super, super excited about this trip! While we are there, we will visit 2 hospitals, a nursing home, 2 pharmacies, as well as important Chinese tourist destinations. We will see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the cities of Shanghai, Beijing, and Xian, and take an overnight train ride. As one cannot simply choose to go to China (you have to be invited) this will be a trip to remember. I will be missing my graduation ceremony, but I could care less. Sitting for 3 hours to hear my name called, or taking a trip to the other side of the world? Hmmm; what would you choose? Seriously, when am I ever going to get another chance to visit China.

However, today my travels take me to the great land of Mississippi County. Hopefully I will be in an out as quickly as possible. Lol!

Questions & Commentary

I wonder as I lay in bed with two of my babies (why doesn't Barkley like to join us?) what Liesel is thinking about as she admires the artwork above the headboard. She looks at me, then above my head, then me again, etc… Maybe she is much smarter than I previously thought. Maybe she sees the motion in the swirls of stainless steel as a symbolism of Earth's movement through the cosmos. But then again, she did get out of bed last night and vomit in the floor, so this probably negates my theory.

Last night I prepared Parmesan Chicken for dinner. I thoroughly enjoy cooking and always have great success with my Parmesan Chicken. The recipe is quite simple and can be prepared quickly, so I thought I would share:

Lightly beat 1 egg and mix with ½ cup of milk. Pound 3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts to a thickness of ½ in. Coat the breasts in the egg/milk mixture then cover both sides with Parmesan bread crumbs (I use Great Value). Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over med-high heat and brown the chicken for about 4 minutes on each side. Place the breasts in a casserole dish and cover with shredded Mozzarella cheese. Then cover the chicken with a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I use a blend with mushrooms). Finally sprinkle more shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top. Place in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until cheese is melted.

I am finally catching up with the television programming that I recorded on my DirecTV DVR over the holidays. This won't last long as a few of my favorite television shows begin again next week. "Big Love" begins on Sunday, "Project Runway" returns a week from Thursday, and, of course, "American Idol" season 9 premieres a week from today. Suckily enough, I return to class and clinic on Monday so that will hinder my television programming. However, this is my last semester!!!!

A Sunny Monday

Day two of lying in my bed with two of my babies. As I posted earlier on Facebook, I'm so thankful that I attend Arkansas State University and am no in high school or elementary school because I have one week left of my vacation. It's going to be a pretty lazy week around here. My mother, stepfather, and Austin are all back in school so they won't be over. My friend Max returned to work following his 6 week leave after surgery, so he won't be over. Jesse works every day except for Friday, so the house will stay clean.

As I lay here I hear the gentle roar of the insulation pumping truck in the pseudo driveway of the house being constructed next door. Needless to say, Barkley has been upset by said roar since about 10 this morning. Alas, I have another day of barking/yelping to contend with. Each day, that child teaches me more and more that I named him correctly; even though he was actually named after one of my favorite vacation spots, Lake Barkley in Kentucky.

I have a few projects to complete around the house, so let's see how many I will complete today. Nothing major, just organizing the utility drawer in the kitchen, repainting a tray I purchased last week while antiquing, and painting those damn flowers in the hallway. We got them months ago and have been procrastinating with the "paint job" ever since. I had planned on having them painted by the time Thanksgiving came. Well, that has since come and gone and I now plan to have them painted by the end of my Christmas break. Check back in March and maybe I will actually be done with them.

Note the white flowers on the right; they are supposed to match the painting on the left (explaining the one flower that has been painted)

I guess I'm back to watching "Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe." I hope that the rest of you have a wonderful Monday and a great first full week of 2010!!!

A New Year; A New Blog

After nearly 3 years of blogging on MySpace, I made the conscious decision to move my blog to the Blogger website. This will allow me to blog directly via Microsoft Word hopefully allowing me to blog daily like I did once-upon-a-time. In addition to the new space, I am changing gears with my blog and am going to give my posts a different feel. I hope that you like the changes that I make and look forward to your comments. Without further ado, let the blogging begin…

It's a lazy day around my house. 2 of my 3 babies are in lying in my bed as I type and I'm watching the wonderful programming of HGTV as usual. Jesse is working so the house is quiet and most importantly impeccably clean. We successfully made it through the holidays and our house survived its first holiday party season. I don't generally like to toot my own horn, but I'm thinking that this house is absolutely gorgeous. I still have a few projects to complete before it is a finished masterpiece, but that's ok with me. Oddly enough, we started discussing building last night at dinner. There are two problems with this scenario. 1.) We just moved here 8 months and 10 days ago, and 2.) Where to actually build. I'm kinda partial to having a house by itself somewhere in the country, yet still on Crowley's Ridge. Having grown up in the flat-land of the Mississippi Delta, I could barf thinking about having to move to another piece of barren, flat, disgustingly ugly land. The gentle rolling hills of Jonesboro provide a much nicer vista and are far less depressing. However, Jesse has fallen in love with a relatively new neighborhood called Plantation Oaks. The house lots are larger than what we currently live on, are outside of the "Jonesboro" yet are technically contained within the city limits, and have the types of houses that we want to construct with our next project. My problem with Plantation Oaks is that is located beside and connects to Ridgepointe. If we are going to live there, why not just move to Ridgepointe and enjoy golf course views. He doesn't want people trampling through our backyard. Oh, well, I don't plan on moving for about 5 years so I'm not going to think about it anymore.

Apparently it snowed quite a bit about an hour west of here this morning. I woke, at 9:30, to sunshine and flurries falling. I would really love to see some snow and to see how Liesel and Taco react to the rare white precipitation.

That's all I've got for today. I'm going to try to keep these blogs shorter than my old blogs became. I also plan to blog tomorrow, so I need to save some topics for then.